Cleaning mechanism for circular-knitting machines.



W'. FISCHER.

CLEANING MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPUCATION HLED OCT-26, 1914. 1,156,838.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cn.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

W. FISCHER.

CLEANING MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES,

APPLICATION FILED OCT-26, 19M. 1,156,838.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED sra'rns PATENT curios.

WILLIAM FISCHER, or nEwRIoHr/rom), OI-IIO, ASSIGNOR or I BLUMENs'iEIN, OF NEW RICHMOND, OHIO.

ounhranr To ouis CLEANING MECHANISM-FOR GIBQCULAR-KNITTING MACHINES.

1 156,838 7 p Specification of Letters Patent, Patented Oct, 12 1915. App1ication filed October 26,1914. Serial No. 868,663. t

To all whom it may concern: 7

'Be .i known that I,;WILLIAM FISCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Richmond, in the county of Glermont and State of Ohio, have invented certain vnew and useful Improvements in Cleaning Mechanism for Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

One of the difliculties heretofore experienced in the operation of circular knitting machines employed for knitting stockings and the like and in which reciprocating needles and reciprocating webeholders or so-calledsinkers are employed which coact with each other, has been, that the lint from the material operated on collects in adjacency to the knitting line and packs in the needle -oper'- ating space between and below the sinkers and thereby interferes with the proper operation of the needles and sinkers.

It has heretofore been a difficult and tedious operation to clean the lint thus packed out of themachine, for the reason that the lint packs between and under the sinkers and in the guideways in which the sinkers and the needles move, these parts being dlflicult of access. The packing of the lint in the guideways in which the sinkers and needles move further has the disadvantage thatthe sinkers are prevented from making complete movements, whereby the web-moving function of the sinkers is interfered with and the needlesare caused to travel out of their true paths of movement, resulting in undue strains in the'machine and in skip,- ping of loops and consequent inferiority or loss of product.

Itis the object of my invention to provide convenient means for cleaning the spaces in which the sinkers and needles move and operate, and the invention'c'onsists in providing a plurality of fingers adapted to reach into these spaces vfor contacting the packedli'nt and withdrawing thev same.

, The invention will be further readily understood from the following description'and claims, and from the drawings, in which latter:

"Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved device. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the same, partly broken away and partly shown in connection with the upper end of the knitting head of a knitting A. deg) machine of usual form. F ig, 3 is a vertical retraction of the fingers. Fig. 5 is a section a h l e of Fig-2; nd, ig- 6 is a detail insection on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

a l repre en s t e k tt ghea t e pper end'of which is shown.

12 rep e the e d rcylind r, at th upp nd o hi h. a t ro -fine l3i$ a dh r at-ri e u u lly ce structed, is provided with slotslt, 15, in

which the legs '16, 17, of a webholder or v sinker. l8 reciprocate, legs forming a crotch 19 in which the guide 20 of the t oa in is e eiw Th l s 'o e @sinkcr reciprocate respectively above and el t g the lin in practice P king in the space between the'outer end of the crotch and the o u r en a rai gui as shown at 21.

An annular bracket 25 is suitably secured to the upper end of the needle-cylinder and is provided with radial slots 26,, in line wi th the slots'l, 15,'in which the outer shank 27 of the sinker is arranged to reciprocate. The outer shank of the sinker has a heel 28,'these heels being received in'the cam- .slot 29'of a cam-ring 30 which has bearing support on the annular bracket 25 foirbeing rotated thereon in well-known manner.

This cam-ringihasflthe usual carn portion movements ofithe sink'ers.

The needle-cylinder. is provided with cate up and down, being actuated by a camcylinder I of usualconstruction in well chine and causingthe formation of loops in theknitting. i

he barin l 32 Q -.t ejwm1le' which controls the inward, and'coutwardvneedle-slots 34, in whichneedles 35 reciprobracket 25 is spaced from the needle-cylinder for forming an annular needle-space 38.

In the operation of the machine, lint from the material being operated upon, such as wool, cotton yarnand other threads, will be carried down by the needles and will gather between the sinkers and in the needle-space, as shown at 89, and be contacted by the needles and the sinkers and gradually become packed as a hard mass and interfere with the proper operation of the sinkers and the needles. This lint will, for instance, pack as a hard mass between the base of the crotch l9 and the guide 20, as shown at 21, and will also pack as a hard mass, as indicated at 40, in rear of the needles, thereby causing the needles adjacent to the knitting wave to be forced outwardly out of their true lines of travel, with the result that they will miss loops in the knitting operation, thereby forming holes in the fabric. It has heretofore been a difiicult matter to remove this lint, for the reason that the spaces filled thereby are difiicult of access. My improved device for accomplishing this cleaning comprises a head and a series of fingers arranged to reach into the spaces to be cleaned. The head comprises a plate 41;to which a stem 42 is rigidly secured. The plate is provided with radial slots 43. 44 is a ring provided with radial slots 45 which register with the radial slots 43 of the plate. There is an annular groove 46 between the plate and ring. A series of arms 47 are arranged to be received in the radial slots 43, 45, and are pivoted to the head, shown accomplished by means of a wire ring 48. The arms are strung upon the wire ring and placed in the slots, with the wire ring located in the annular groove 46, whereupon the ring 44 and the plate 41 are rigidly secured together, as by means of screws 49, for clamplng the wire'ring 1n place.

'The arms are arranged to swing on their pivots'in radial'paths, shown accomplished by'means of a plate 51, which is provided with radial slots 52, in which the upper ends of the arms 47 are received, in the present exemplification of my invention. A bearing 53 is received about the stem 42 and is secured to the plate 51 by means of screws 54. The plate 51 has contact-parts 55, with which the arms 47 make contact. The arms are provided with recesses 56in which a helical spring 57 annularly arranged about the arms is received.

The bearing 53 is provided with a knob 58 and the stem 42 is provided with a knob 59, so that relative longitudinal movement between the stem and bearing maybe readily manually accomplished, as by placing the fore and middle fingers under the knob 58 and the thumb on the knob 59, and pressing the fingers and thumb toward each other. To resist this action and return the arms to normal position, a spring 60 may be further received between the bearing and the knob 59.

The lower ends of the arms are provided with cleaning fingers 63, these fingers being shown integral with the arms and, as outwardly bowed in radial arrangement, as shown at 64, the lower ends of the fingers extending inwardly as shown at 65, the

' aroximate fin ers bein s aced a art b presented toward the needle-cylinder in manner as shown in Fig. 3.. The plate 51 being now raised will cause the fingers to approach the needle-cylinder for the reason that the contact-parts 55 of the plate 51- are caused to ride upwardly on the upper ends of the pivoted arms, whereby the cleaning ends of the fingers are forced radially toward the lint in said spaces. The device now being pulled upwardly will pull the lint with the fingers, as indicated in Fig. 4, for cleaning the spaces.

By means of my improved device, a rapid and thorough cleaning may be given to the knitting head, the application of the cleaning device for the cleaning operation being simple, so that little time is consumed in cleaning the knitting head. For this reason the knitting head may be given frequent cleanings with little loss of time so as to avoid the cumulation of lint and thereby insuring a uniformly excellent product.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a cleaning mechanism for circular knitting machines, the combination of a head, finger-arms pivoted thereto in radial arrangement, said arms having fingers at 7 their lower ends, means for swinging said fingers spaced apart for being received in,

the spaces between the sinkers of a circular knitting machine and into the needle space between the needle cylinder and cam-ring support for contacting the lint in said spaces, and means for swinging said arms on their pivots for urging said cleaning ends toward said needle-cylinder.

3. In a cleaning devicev for circular knitting machines, the combination of a head, finger-arms pivoted thereto in radial arrangement, said finger-arms provided with cleaning fingers, means for normally urging said fingers in one direction, and a plate provided with slots in which said finger-arms are received and with contact-parts for said finger-arms for urging said fingers in the opposite direction.

4. In a cleaning device for circular knitting machines, the combination of a head, a stem extending therefrom, finger-arms pivoted to said head'in radial arrangement, said finger-arms provided with cleaning fingers, a plate provided withradially arranged slots through which said finger-arms extend, the walls of said slots forming guiding means for said finger-arms, and a bearing extending from said plate about said stem, and constructed and arranged for swinging said finger-arms by relative longitudinal movement between said stem and bearing.

clamp-ring, said plate and clamp-ring provided with registering radial slots, fingerarms provided with bearing-holes, a pivotring received through said bearing-holes, means for clamping said pivot-ring between said clamp-ring and plate with said fingerarms in said slots in radial arrangement, said finger-arms provided with cleaning fingers at their lower ends, and means for Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

swinging said finger-arms on said pivotring in paths radial with relation to said plate and clamp-ring.

6. In a cleaning device for circular knitting machines, the combination of a head, finger-arms pivoted thereto intermediate of their ends in radial arrangement, said pivotarms provided'with cleaning fingersat their lower ends, an annularly arranged vspiral spring received about the upper ends of said finger-arms for normally urging said upper ends inwardly, a plate having contact-parts for said finger-arms, and means for causing approach and separation between said plate for normally causing approach between said plate and head, said stem and bearing being provided with manual contact,- parts for causing longitudinal movement between said stem and bearing for separating said plate and head and swinging said finger-arms on their pivots.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

l/VILLIAM' FISCHER.

Witnesses:

THERESA M. SILBER, CHARLES E. l/VEBER. 

